Astronomy 1141 Life in the Universe 10/24/12

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1 Friday, October 19 Newton vs. Einstein 1) Newton: Gravity is a force acting between massive objects in static, Euclidean space. Guest lecturer: Barbara Ryden 2) Einstein: Gravity is the result of the curvature of space-time by the presence of mass-energy. 3) On large scales, space can be Euclidean (flat), positively curved, or negatively curved. The Way of Newton: Space is static (not expanding or contracting) and Euclidean. Two very different ways of thinking about gravity and space. Objects have a natural tendency to move on straight lines at constant speed. 1

2 Newton s 2 nd law of motion gives the acceleration in response to any force (not just gravity)! If a gravitational force is applied to an object with gravitational mass m g and inertial mass m i, its acceleration is Objects falling side-by-side have the same acceleration (and thus, the same m g /m i ). Truly astonishing and fundamental fact of physics: m g = m i for every known object! This equality is known as the equivalence principle. The equivalence principle led Einstein to devise his theory of General Relativity. Let s do a thought experiment (gedankenexperiment), of the kind beloved by Einstein. 2

3 Two ways of thinking about a teddy bear: Two ways of thinking about light: 1) Bear has constant velocity, box is accelerated upward by rocket. 2) Box has constant velocity, bear is accelerated downward by gravity. 1) Light has constant velocity, box is accelerated upward by rocket. 2) Box has constant velocity, light is accelerated downward by gravity. Einstein s insight: Gravity affects the paths of photons, even though they have no mass! Newton Mass & energy are very different things. Space & time are very different things. Einstein Mass & energy are interchangeable: E = mc 2 Space & time are interchangeable: part of 4-dimensional space-time. Light takes the shortest distance between two points. Light takes the shortest distance between two points. In flat space, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. In the presence of gravity, light follows a curved line. In the presence of gravity, space is not flat, but curved! 3

4 Our new way of thinking about the teddy bear naturally explains the equivalence principle. 3) No forces are acting on the bear; it s merely following the shortest distance between two points in space-time. All bears (and other objects!), regardless of size or mass, are taking the shortest path through space-time. The Way of Newton: Mass tells gravity how much force to exert; force tells mass how to move. The Way of Einstein: Mass-energy tells space-time how to curve; curved space-time tells mass-energy how to move. Einstein s view of gravity is mathematically complicated. However, it works better than Newton s when gravity is strong (near massive objects). Example: Einstein s theory correctly predicts the effect known as gravitational lensing. Einstein: Mass & energy cause space to curve. This curvature causes an observed bending of the path of light. Gravitational lensing by the Sun: Total solar eclipse, May 29, 1919 (photographic negative) This effect is called gravitational lensing. New York Times, Nov 10,

5 Gravitational lensing by a cluster of galaxies: Background galaxies The Big Question: Locally, space is dimpled by stars, planets, etc The Cosmological Principle: On large scales (bigger than clusters of galaxies) the universe is homogeneous and isotropic. but what is its global curvature on large scales? homogeneous = the same at all locations isotropic = the same in all directions Einstein: If the distribution of mass-energy is homogeneous & isotropic, then the curvature of space is homogeneous & isotropic. There are only 3 ways in which space can have homogeneous, isotropic curvature. Angles at the vertices of a triangle add to 180 degrees. Parallel lines never meet. 5

6 gumball universe Pringles universe If space has positive curvature, it has a finite volume, but no boundary. (Analogy: the Earth s surface has positive curvature. It has a finite area, but no edge.) If space has negative curvature or is flat, it has an infinite volume, unless a boundary is imposed. Measuring the curvature of space is easy in principle. In practice, curvature is hard to see on scales smaller than the radius of curvature. Flat: angles of triangle add to 180 Positive: angles add to >180 Negative: angles add to <180 George Gamow, One Two Three Infinity We re going to need a bigger triangle 6